The Primerus Paradigm - Fall 2012 Page 7

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handling his clients' international needs.
"What this has done for us is change
our focus so when one of our clients is
doing business overseas, we can look
to see whether Primerus has counsel
there. And typically, we find there are

Primerus lawyers right there," he said.

"Primerus is permitting us

to associate with

firms that

have already

been vetted so

we don't have to do
due diligence before

working with them."

In the past, his firm has

handled minimal international work, but
that's quickly changing. He has needed

law firms in China, Korea and Canada in
the past month. "The world has shrunk,"
Rohrbacher said. "I think it's going to be
a regular occurrence now."

Finding Value

Jeff Pascoe, vice president and general
counsel for Gerber Childrenswear LLC
in Greenville, South Carolina, said he
was drawn to Primerus in part because of
his concern with finding value in outside
legal services. "One of my top priorities

is to maximize the value of outside

counsel. In that sense, Primerus
firms are a good fit for my
company and legal budget."

Pascoe said he often finds that

smaller to medium-sized firms

offer the best value because they

typically have lower overhead

and often are located in markets

where the rates are lower.

Pascoe, who is a board

member of the South

Carolina chapter of
the Association of

Corporate Counsel (ACC),
learned about Primerus at the

2010 ACC Annual Meeting.

Since then, he has attended

two Primerus events the 2011

Primerus Business Law Institute

(PBLI) Symposium in Chicago

and the 2012 Primerus Defense

Institute (PDI) Convocation in

San Diego.

Pascoe said he has been

consistently impressed with the quality

of the continuing legal education
programs Primerus offers at these events,
and with the expertise of the Primerus
member attorneys who attend them. He
plans to attend the PBLI Symposium
again this year because he found last
year's event to be so relevant and helpful
to his work. He especially likes that
Primerus educational programs offer
perspective from both inside counsel
and outside counsel. "They offer a
common sense approach to things and
they recognize that as clients we have to
watch our budgets and are looking for
good, real-world solutions to problems."

Buchanan said Primerus understands
that clients now want to be much more
involved so they can ensure matters are
being handled efficiently and effectively.
Primerus continues to put a great
emphasis on bringing clients and lawyers
together in meaningful ways by hosting
events where clients can not only learn
from legal experts and attorneys, but also
develop lasting relationships based on
trust.

what's Ahead

Jones predicts law firms will continue
to face stressful times ahead, citing
increased expenses and historically
low realization or collections rates of
an average of 84 percent. That means
that for every dollar firms record at their
standard billing rates, they collect on
average only 84 cents, after reductions
and negotiations take place. "With
realization rates down, expenses up,
productivity down and demand flat or
slightly increased, you have a picture in
which profitability is hard to manage,"
Jones said. "It's a very fragile time, and
as you would suspect, some firms will
emerge as winners and some as losers.
The firms that are getting it right are
pulling ahead."
Buchanan believes that in this
increasingly competitive and challenging
legal market, the need for a "third party"
to benefit both lawyers and clients
has never been stronger. "We offer a
service to the legal industry that would
otherwise be impossible without us," he
said. "Not only do we help to provide
a higher quality legal service to clients
at a lower price, we also are working to
uplift the profession by holding lawyers
to the highest possible ethical standards
and bringing lawyers and clients
together in meaningful ways. Primerus
is revolutionizing the legal profession
of the 21st century by offering a whole
new approach to the delivery of legal
services."